Notes

Concerning the show at The Summit in Houston, Texas (which, by the way, is now known as The Lakewood Church aka The Oasis of Love, run by televangelist Joel Osteen). But it was the night of October 20, 1988 when the last real service was held there! That was the night of a family outing for myself,Randy and my wife,(the late) Sandi Gardner and our three sons, Lenny, Hunter, and Cassidy; they were 12, 6 and 4 at the time. Although we had taken one or two with us before, this was the first time we took all three to see a show; and we even brought along their Godparents, Mary and Steve, who had never seen a Dead show before.... as well as a few friends. So this was a really great night with wonderful memories. I remember this was only one of two times when I was able to get all of us to wear tie-dyes at the same time! One of the cool things I remember about this show is that my wife, being the artist she was, had done a beautiful wood burning of the State of Texas with a Yellow rose in the middle of it, and it said "Dead in the Heart of Texas" across it. Just before the show began, she took it to the soundboard and gave it to whomever was there at the time and asked if they would take it to Bobby and give to him for his birthday. They promised they would, but of course she never knew whether he got it for sure or where it might be today. She always imagined that it would be hanging somewhere in the Dead's office or in his home. I hope that it is! Three years later she got a chance to meet Bobby after a show but was so excited she forgot to ask him if he had got it or not. But she did get him to sign a note to our son, Cassidy...to which he wrote, Hey Now Cassidy, and as he signed his name the sharpie began to run out of ink...and Bobby looks at Sandi and says, "what you have here is a dead pen"! Priceless!
Glad I hung on to this first gen tape since my friend Alan no longer has the masters. Only wish the Dead had used a better venue as the sound was never that great in here for any band to play. I remember many of the folks I worked with thinking it strange we were going as a family to see the Grateful Dead, because at that time I was a funeral director so I was already working with the dead all day long!
- Randy Gardner February 6, 2010